The Forgotten Man
by Kristin4
Summary: A man from Nate's past and a hitter from Eliots have reappered and are working together. They want to take out the team, can they work a con that will save the team or will they lose everything, including each other.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the show Leverage, the characters Nate, Parker, Eliot, Hardison or Sophie. I wish I did but I don't, especially Eliot .

I do own the bad guys in this story. Also I had written this chap awhile ago so it might seem somewhat similar to another story, but it's only this chapter and its not copied.

* * *

Chapter 1

Parker was worried as she listened to Eliot talk about his upcoming date. She has a bad feeling but she doesn't think anyone will listen to her if she says anything. Silently she watches as Eliot gets ready and everyone talks about their plans. Nate and Sophie are going out together and Hardison has plans he refuses to talk about. When they turn to Parker she sighs and tells them she is practicing tonight. They give her the weird look since its their first night off in a while but Parker has no one she wants to date, except for her secret crush. She has been in love with Eliot for a while but she knows he doesn't feel the same.

"Parker it's dangerous for you to practice without someone there to check your harness." Eliot said with an arched eyebrow.

"I am a big girl I think I can take care of myself." Parker said annoyed. She grabbed her gear and left everyone behind to go home and rest before she was going to go and practice. She knew it was a bad night for it since it was supposed to rain but she didn't care.

* * *

Later that night Parker hooked up harness and was checking her line when he came out of nowhere. She glanced up just as he pushed her over the side of the building and she knew something was wrong. She grappled for a hold but she was falling to fast. She hit the ground hard and she knew she was hurt. She didn't know how long she was lying there before the same man came up to her and kicked her in the gut. She grunted and tried to figure out who he was.

"Tell Ford that I am going to make him pay Parker." The man said as a hitter came into view. Parker recognized him immediately as Eliots big enemy. He smirked as he to hit her a couple of time. She was bleeding and broken and she knew she couldn't call for help.

"Tell Eliot I said hi." The hitter said as he slammed a kick into her gut.

Parker had no choice. She needed help and fast but what could she do. If she called Eliot he would be in trouble. Then the two men left but they left behind a couple of goons and she knew she had to make the call.

"Parker this had better be good." Eliot growled into the phone.

"They tried to kill me. He left two men behind I am hurt bad. Ow." Parker screamed as she got hit again. The phone was yanked from her hands and she watched as one of the men talked on it.

"Spencer if you want your thief back I would hurry she wont last much longer." The man said as he continued his assault.

Eliot was beside himself as he hurried away from his date. He had thought it would get him over Parker and now she was in trouble because he didn't admit his feelings and just go with her to practice. He hurried to the address and stopped a block away. He snuck on foot to the scene and what he saw angered him. He watched as two men continued an assault on a down and bloody Parker. He ran over and slammed his fist into the two mens faces. He continued his assault till they were down and then he picked up a broken Parker and carried her the block to his truck. Once they were inside he made the emergency call to the rest of team to be at the office.

"He wants Nate. He is after the team." Parker murmurs. "Jake says hi."

Eliot brought the truck to a screeching halt. "Jake Mitchell?" Eliot asked as he stared at the blood all over Parker.

"He works for the man who pushed me off the roof. They hurt me and they want to hurt Nate." Parker said slowly.

"We aren't going to let that happen." Eliot said as he gripped the steering wheel.

They made it back to the office and everyone was shocked at Parker's condition. Sophie had ice and a first aid kit but everyone knew she needed a doctor.

"This guy is after the team and he hired my old enemy Jake Mitchell." Eliot growled as he sat and cradled Parker in his lap. She was clinging to him and everyone could see it was useless to try and pry them apart. Everyone knew the two of them liked each other but wouldn't do anything and now they were inseparable. "I am so sorry I wasn't there for you." Eliot whispered to Parker who was sobbing in pain.

Hardison pulled up Jake Mitchell as well as who he was currently working for. Parker glanced at the picture and a shudder went through her as she looked at the man who pushed her off the building. As everyone looked at the picture they could feel nothing but hatred for the two men. They had to wonder what they were going to do and who would get hurt next.

* * *

Parker was scared to be left alone and she was in pain. Eliot gently cleaned her face with a wet towel and then grimaced as it already started to bruise. She clung to him as they sat in the bedroom. Sophie, Nate and Hardison had insisted she go lie in bed but she wouldn't let Eliot leave her.

"You saved me." She said with a smile and then a wince.

"I care Parker, I wasn't going to leave you there." He whispered to her. She snuggled closer into his lap and body causing him to fill the stirring of feelings he knew now wasn't the time to admit. He could feel her breathing even out and he knew she was asleep. He didn't want to leave her but he needed to talk to the others about the two men he had taken out and he was sure they wanted to know about Jake Mitchell since he had only told Parker about that. He leaned over and kissed her forehead and then got up to face the others and see what this other guy had against Nate.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Why go after Parker tonight? I don't understand what this all about." Sophie said as she panicked staring at the pictures on the screens in front of her. She was upset with the way Parker looked. It was clear she was badly injured.

"Because she was the only one who was vulnerable enough for them to get to her." Nate said softly. "Think about it, you were with me in a public place, Eliot can take them and he was in a public place and Hardison well who knows what he was up to. But Parker was alone on top of a building attempting to go down in her harness, completely vulnerable."

"Poor Parker this is horrible." Sophie said.

Hardison kept looking at the screens in front of him, trying to keep his mind on what he was doing in tracking down the men responsible for hurting Parker. He was struggling with the fact that he could have offered to go with her. He could have been there to help her and maybe she wouldn't have been hurt like this. He looked up when Eliot entered the room and he already knew these men were dead. Eliot didn't like killing, he tried his hardest to make sure they were only hurt but everyone knew that he cared about Parker which made these guys dead men.

"How is she?" Hardison asked stopping his work and staring at Eliot.

"Let's just say she is terrified to be alone so I only have a few minutes and then I promised her I would be back. I am hoping she stays asleep and doesn't notice but it's possible she'll wake up and we are going to have a problem." Eliot growled as he clenched his fists. "Who is this guy Nate and what does he have against you that he would attack Parker?"

"I'll tell you about him if you tell us about Mitchell." Nate said arching an eyebrow.

"No problem." Eliot said nodding his head since he had already planned to talk about his issues with Mitchell.

"It was back in high school when we were kids. His name is Antonio Depandi and he and I were best friends. We did everything together in school, we were like brothers. But it all changed just before graduation all of a sudden he was acting weird. I caught him stealing from the church's charity drive boxes. I never said anything but I wouldn't hang out with him again and I told him if I saw him steal again I was turning him in." Nate said with a sigh. He took a deep breath and then continued. "A few weeks later I caught him stealing again and this time it was worse. He was stealing from the funds that were being sent to a hospital to help kids with cancer. I couldn't keep quiet, I had warned him and so I turned him in and he was arrested. They searched his room and found tons of stolen property from different burglaries and he went to jail. He blamed me for getting prison time and missing graduation. To top it off his family disowned him and he was told to never come home again."

"Aw that's so sad. It's weird considering we do con jobs ourselves." Sophie said with a shrug.

"What about Mitchell?" Hardison asked turning his attention to Eliot.

"Mitchell and I were best friends for a while. We grew up together as well. We both trained in the skill of fighting and then one time we worked together on a major job. They wanted more than one retrieval specialist because they were using more than one thief. Mitchell was cocky and arrogant and I told him to tone it down, I told him that he wasn't going to be able to do his job correctly if he didn't knock it off." Eliot said with a sigh. He looked down as if he was remembering everything that had happened. "The night we were pulling the job Mitchell was drunk, and I mean he was falling down about to pass out drunk. It pissed me off because I knew I was going to be doing three times the work. I knew I needed to cover him, and take care of both of the thieves. When the job went down Mitchell blew it, he went in when he wasn't needed and blew everything apart. We lost a thief, she was extremely young and I lost it. The next day we all went off on him and he blamed me, he said it was my fault that I didn't go out with him the night before, and it was my fault that I didn't keep him from entering the building. He swore that one day he was going to get even with the person responsible for that thief's death. I guess it's me that he blames, I just never knew it." Eliot said softly.

"What happened to Parker tonight is not anyone's fault." Sophie said evenly. "I want you all to understand that. Parker is an adult and she chose to go there alone and try and practice. It was not your fault that they decided to take her our first. You should be proud that you got there when you did and took out the men you did take out Eliot. We should all be grateful that we still have her here with us. Now we need to figure out what we are going to do to get even with these men." Sophie said with a grin on her face.

Nate was watching his team with wary eyes. He knew what Antonio Depandi was capable of and that was what worried him. He also knew that Eliot could probably take him, but what he was worried about were the other guys that he would probably have. Eliot was going to want to deal with Mitchell and Depandi, but he would be outnumbered by the backup that Depandi always had. Nate had been keeping tabs on him since he got out of prison, just to be safe, now he wished he had done something about the guy sooner, because Parker was hurt. It was time to get revenge and it was time to teach Depandi a lesson, the question was, would they be able to do it alone?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Parker had been awake for a while. She was sitting on the couch and reading over the information that was sitting there that the team had put together on Antonio Depandi and Mitchell. Knowing the names of the men who hurt her only made everything more real. She knew everyone was worried about her and they needn't be. She knew she was injured and she should be resting and lying down on the bed that Eliot had made her sleep in. She also knew that Eliot had been freaking out because he really cared. It didn't matter though, neither of them would admit their true feelings, Eliot was to chicken to admit he loved her, if he loved her, and she was just not the touchy feely person that admitted feelings like that.

Slowly she got to her feet, knowing she was in a lot of pain and would be for a while. She glanced behind her, grateful that no one else was awake and didn't know what she was thinking. She had an emergency gear bag that she hid here and she slowly made her way over and grabbed it. She was going to deal with these two men in her own way, making sure no one else on her team was injured by these freaks.

She was halfway to the door when someone grabbed her arm and stopped her cold. She knew that grip and she sighed as she turned and looked at Eliot who was glaring at her.

"Where do you think you are going?" He asked her angrily.

"I am going to my place." Parker lied. She knew that Eliot would be able to tell if she was lying or telling the truth but it was worth a shot. She didn't want anyone else to deal with these guys, they were already making things personal between Eliot and Nate, it was time someone else taught them a lesson. Eliot and Nate may know who they are and what they are after, but Parker knew what they looked like now and she was also pretty sure that she could call in some favors and find them on her own. She knew that they would be using alias's and lying low, making sure they weren't easy to find, but they had never messed with Parker before.

"Really? Well then you won't mind if I tag along." Eliot said with a smug look on his face, he knew he was calling her bluff and he knew she knew it.

"Eliot, I am a big girl. I have some personal issues that need to be worked out right now, let me work them out on my own." Parker said. Those men had violated her in the worse way. It wasn't so much the beating that they gave her, it was the fact that they had taken away her freedom and her comfort in her harness when she would repel and jump off the roofs of buildings. They had stolen so much from her, it was probably going to take her a long time before she felt comfortable enough to try and practice again, alone.

"I know you Parker, I know you are going after Mitchell and Depandi. Don't do this along, let the team help all right? Depandi is after Nate, so he knows more about this guy than any of us. Mitchell is after me, apparently, he must blame me for that thief's death, and I am the only one who will be able to deal with him." Eliot said evenly.

"Eliot it might be better if I go alone. They won't expect me to be able to fight back, I can surprise them and kill them." Parker said with her crazy evil grin in place.

"All right, that is why you aren't going alone. No one is going to kill anyone all right Parker? We are going to find a way to get them busted by the cops, going to prison has got to be worse than death. Let us deal with everything Parker. We are a team, a family now. Families stick together and work together, they don't turn their backs on each other and they are always there to help." Eliot said with a smile.

"Okay." Parker said with a sigh and she dropped her gear bag. The truth was she knew she was in no shape to take on those guys and however many men they had at the moment. She was going to need to get her health back and she hoped that they had a plan that she could help with because she wasn't going to like just sitting around and getting no action while everyone else got even with those bonehead freaks.

"That's my girl." Eliot said with a smile. "Now would you like me to give you some more pain medication?" he asked her noticing how much pain she was in at the moment.

"Yeah, and Eliot?" Parker asked standing there with her head cocked to the side.

"Yes Parker?" Eliot asked with a patient smile as he walked over and got her a glass of water and then grabbed a couple of pill bottles from his special kit.

"Will you sleep with me tonight? I always get really bad nightmares after I fall or something happens with my harness." Parker said shyly.

"Of course I will." Eliot said trying to make sure he didn't show just how much those words affected him. He hated that someone had gotten to Parker so much that she was afraid she was going to have nightmares. He hated that someone had put their hands on his girl. _Whoa where did that thought come from? Since when was Parker his girl? She was like a sister to him, wasn't she? _Eliot really needed to re-evaluate his relationship with Parker, because it seemed like she might have managed to find a way to slip past the walls he had guarding his heart, and if she had then that was a problem, not just for him but for her and their team as well.

Tomorrow there would be plenty of time to go over everything that had happened on the roof between Depandi and Parker. Tomorrow there would be plenty of time to go over their strategy and plans for getting even with these bozo's. But would tomorrow bring him the answers he needed when it came to how Parker managed to slip inside his heart and turn it to mush, or would this whole case and situation with his past cause him to realize that there was no way he could ever have Parker, that it would just be to dangerous to drag her into the Hitter's personal life, forever.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Parker was sitting on the couch as she listened to the team try and come up with a plan on how best to handle this situation. It was clear that these two men were now working together and Nate and Eliot were sure that they had made the team targets with big bulls eyes on their backs. Parker looked over and noticed the worried glances that Sophie kept on shooting towards Nate and Parker wondered if the mastermind of their group had picked up a drink again because of this. She didn't smell any alcohol on his breath or on his body, but that didn't mean that last night he hadn't had anything. Parker felt Hardison staring at her and she looked over. She knew that their hacker had feelings for her but she didn't return those types of feelings and she had never been in a situation where she needed to be nice to a guy when trying to get him to stop thinking of her in that manner.

Parker was getting bored as everyone started arguing and she was getting a headache. She got off the couch, not caring that Hardison was following her with his eyes this time. She immediately went upstairs and flopped onto Nate's bed and she stared at the ceiling. She heard the metal stairs creak as someone else came up there and she was hoping it was Eliot but was disappointed when it was Hardison. She wasn't sure why she wanted to be alone with Eliot so much, but she knew it was because she had feelings for him. It was the only reason she could think of that she had been jealous that he might have a date with someone else, and it was the only reason she could think of that she couldn't say no to him when he asked her to do something or when he called her darlin'. She loved listening to him talk and she loved even more when he held her, like he had last night. She had not had one nightmare as she had cuddled into Eliot's arms and she had known immediately that it was because he made her feel safe and that was something she had never in her life felt.

"What do you want Hardison?" Parker asked patiently. She was not a patient person and so it was not normal for her to be sitting there and letting him bother her at the moment.

"Look, Parker, I know that after a fall like that it will probably be hard to be alone, so I was wondering if you wanted to come and stay at my place for a while?" Hardison offered her.

Parker was surprised as she slowly sat up and studied the Hacker who was clearly uncomfortable in the silence that followed his offer. She wasn't sure how to handle this one. She really didn't want to be alone, and Eliot hadn't offered for her to be staying with him and she was sure that Nate didn't want her hanging around. She was sure that Sophie would let her stay with her, but the way that Sophie and Nate were looking at each other it seemed like the Grifter might be staying with their mastermind here at his place.

Parker knew that Hardison was probably her best bet if she didn't want to be alone but she couldn't stay with him. It would be leading him on and it would make him think he had a chance with her and she knew that he didn't. Even if she and Eliot didn't work out, she didn't have any romantic feelings for Hardison at all. She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry Hardison but I really don't think that's a good idea." She said softly. She could see the disappointed look on his face and there was a flash of an emotion she had never seen before in his eyes but it was only brief and then it was gone.

"All right, well if you change your mind you know where I live." Hardison said as he shrugged.

After Hardison went downstairs, Parker noticed that her extra gear bag had been brought upstairs. Eliot probably moved it up here thinking that it would make Parker stay in the apartment without a chance of escape, but instead he had given her the chance to sneak away. She immediately put on her harness and everything and then opened the window of Nates. She normally didn't like these types of escapes, especially since she was betraying her friends, especially Eliot, but he had not offered her a chance to stay with him so maybe he didn't care the way she had thought he did. After she was safely on the ground she unhooked her harness and took it off, tucking it into her hiding spot near the bar. She then took off on foot in the direction of the building she knew her car was parked at, it was the building she had gotten hurt at.

* * *

It had been an hour since Hardison had come downstairs with a disappointed look on his face. Eliot had know the Hacker had feelings for Parker and the Hitter felt bad because he knew that he had feelings for her as well. When Parker still had not come down, even at the mention that there was food ready downstairs Eliot became concerned and headed up the stairs. When he saw the window open with Parker's spare gear clearly around it and the rope hanging out of it, his blood began to boil. The blonde thief was going to give him a heart attack before this was all over. He ran downstairs and stared at Nate, Sophie and Hardison.

"Parker used her spare gear and snuck out the window!" Eliot said with a low growl.

"Damn it!" Nate muttered just as aware of how bad that could be. "Depandi will go after her again since she is once again the only one alone. We need to find her and now!"

"Already on it." Hardison said as he tried to activate anything he could to find the missing blonde thief.

* * *

Eliot was going to be so mad at her. Eliot was going to be so mad at them. Parker stared at the men who had taken her and she knew she was in trouble. They were the men from the pictures and they now had her. Parker was normally pretty face on her feet but she was still injured from her fall and her slight beating from the other night and that had slowed her down and now she was chained to a chair in an abandoned warehouse. They had found all her GPS tracking devices that Hardison had planted on her and had smashed them, making them useless. Now all she could do was wait to see if these people were going to kill her or if they were just going to hurt her worse than they had before.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Parker was losing blood a little too fast. She bit her bottom lip as she looked around for anything to stop the flow, but the door opened and she knew they were back. She had been in this place for over a month now. For an entire month she had been at the mercy of these two men who clearly had some major head issues, and the team thought she was crazy. She sighed, she missed her team. The person that was walking into the room was new to her, not someone she had known. Sudden they were ripping some of her clothing off and she realized why, it was a doctor and he was there to treat some of her wounds.

She felt him start to stitch her wounds and she cried out. They had not bothered to give her pain medication or numb the area. The doctor was just slicing a needle through her skin and threading the thread that would close her wounds through. She realized he was stitching the wounds, and she was in so much pain that she knew she would pass out. She was lucky that she had a higher pain threshold, however even this hurt her so she couldn't imagine what it would do to someone who couldn't take pain.

She was cold and delirious, she had been running a fever, probably because one of her wounds was infected.

"This wound is infected." The doctor pointed out with a frown. "You should have called me sooner, she is not going to last long without treatment for this wound and infection."

"What do you or we have to do?" Depandi asked as if he couldn't be bothered by the person.

"Well first we are going to need to get all the puss out of this wounds, it is not going to be pretty, it will most likely make you gag and want to throw up. The puss is going to smell horrifying and it is going to be extremely painful for the subject so should I premedicate the subject?" The doctor asked Depandi curiously.

"No, let her suffer. If it gets to out of hand, you can always nod your head at one of my guys and they will knock her out." Depandi said with a nasty smirk on his face.

"Well whatever you say." The doctor said shrugging. "Look this is really going to be horrible and if you come into contact with this it could cause health issues, painful ones, for any of you. Why don't you leave me alone with the patient? If there is a problem you'll be right outside the door and I can shout for help, right?" The doctor asked.

"Agreed. I need my team healthy for what I have planned for Nate Ford, Eliot and the rest of those losers." Depandi said with a growl.

Parker wasn't sure what was about to happen to her but the whole stitching thing had already made her extremely nauseous and delirious. The doctor got out tools to open her wounds and relieve the puss. When the door was closed behind Depandi's men she heard the doctor say something low under his breath and she was confused. She was so far out of it she didn't hear anyone enter the area and then she was out cold from a shot that the good doctor gave her.

* * *

They all stared at her in shock. While she was unconscious the doctor relieved the puss from the wounds and only Eliot had opted to stay in when the nasty smell and look started to fill the air. Eliot watched as the doctor that had been good friends with Sophie at some point treated Parker. He had called Sophie when he had been approached by Depandi's men to treat someone they had captive. Sophie had warned all her friends about Depandi and the fact that they were sure that he was holding their friend. The doctor was now going to disappear using an alias that Hardison had just made up for him and money that was completely untraceable. His family was already well hidden and untouchable, the doctor had done that when he had made the call. He had told Depandi's men he would grab any equipment and medication he might need and meet them somewhere else to be taken wherever they needed him, when he had grabbed his gear Nate had moved his family and Hardison had hidden a GPS tracer on him. In his equipment he had hidden the ear piece that he would put in when the room was clear to give the go sign and he would knock Parker out to make it easier to transport her if she was in bad shape, if she was going to be in too much pain, it would just be better to have her not feeling the pain.

"El…" Parker moaned still out of it.

"Hey Parker, I'm right here. We got you out of there." Eliot told her. He smiled when she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hey there, the doctor has finished getting the infection out of your wounds, he finished sewing the wounds and he gave us antibiotics and pain medication for you. I want you to close your eyes and sleep Parker."

Eliot sat there as Sophie, Hardison, and Nate all shook their heads. The doctor was gone, he had been loaded on a secret plane and flown away. He would continuously change flights in different places and never actually get on a plane in different areas. He would get off the plane on a fuel stop and not at the actual destination and this would make it impossible to track him, he hoped. The team stared at each other and then it was Eliot that spoke first.

"The doctor said the wounds were severely infected and he had put at least a hundred stitches in three of the wounds. She has a broken right arm, dislocated left shoulder, her left ankle is in bad shape, her right hand is fractured, she has a concussion, her cheek bone looks fractured, her jaw is bruised and swollen, she is missing a couple of teeth, her ribs are broken, she has major gashes in her arms, legs and abdomen and those somehow got infected and he also stated she has a major infection in her body somewhere. He said she has pneumonia it sounds like and we need to take her temperature and watch her closely, if her breathing gets to bad or her fever gets to high and the medication he put her on doesn't start working then he wants us to take her straight to a hospital. They were beating her on a daily basis Nate, that whole month." Eliot wanted to break someones neck, the particular someones were the ones that had hurt his Parker. He didn't care that he was thinking of Parker as more than his friend or team mate at that moment, it doesn't matter to him. He loves her, he knows he does, and seeing her like that is hurting him inside.

"Well then, let's go somewhere and get our alias's worked out. For information purposes you and Parker are going to have to pretend to be husband and wife, get us ID's and things with Eliot and Parker noted as husband and wife. Sophie, we are going to need wedding bands, take cash and go get whatever we need. Doctor photographs to look like they have been married for a while and get a marriage license in the system Hardison. We don't know if the police are going to be brought in if we take her in and they note her injuries, and the fact that she was never brought to a hospital. We have the medical reports that we were left by the doctor stating she got private medical care and what was done and everything in case we need to prove we were protecting her. We need everything in place so everything looks legal and right with their 'marriage'. Next give Sophie, you and I alias's to block out our real names, it's important. Make it look legal in case of problems, also put in the system a law enforcement lead, make it look like Parker and Eliot are deep cover cops, that will back off the locals and piss them off at the same time. We can turn them on to Depandi and Mitchell and get them away from us for a while. The locals will keep Depandi busy while she heals and then when we are all 100% we can get everything done and get even. This guy crossed a big line." Nate said as everyone got the plan into action. If they had to lie low, they would for Parker. Then they would come back in full force.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors Note: thanks to all my loyal fans who keep reading, even if it takes me forever to update LOL. I am really sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter up, but my health is not well and we are having issues with our landlord, but luckily we now have a new house to move to, if we can come up with the first months rent, and we should be moving at the end of this week, cross your fingers and hope everything works out, because this much stress is making me sick to my stomach.

Anyway, please keep reading and reviewing and I am going to work on trying to get the new chapters up faster.

Thx Fans!

Krissy

* * *

Chapter 6

Parker groaned as she woke up again and looked around her. She felt nice and warm and realized someone was holding onto her. She felt safe and so cozy that she didn't want to move, she actually was beginning to fear that it was a dream and she was going to wake up and be there with Depandi again. She took a slow deep breath and winced in pain, which let her know that she wasn't dreaming because she didn't feel pain in her dreams. She opened her eyes fully and looked to where someone was holding her and was shocked to see that Eliot was fast asleep next to her in the bed and he was holding her tightly to his side. She smiled as she cuddled closer to him and winced as she realized that actually hurt her. She groaned again, hating the feeling of pain that was rushing through her body.

"Hey, do you want some pain medication?" Eliot asked coming awake instantly.

"You have pain medication?" Parker asked him and then winced because it hurt her jaw to talk.

"Yes, Sophie's friend was the doctor Depandi brought in to treat you. When we got out here Sophie had warned all her friends that one of her friends had been kidnapped by Depandi and as soon as the doctor was contacted to treat someone that he had, he called Sophie. We set him up with GPS tracing and hid his family. Then when he convinced Depandi to leave the room, he sent us a signal and he knocked you out to make the transportation of you from there to here a bit easier and a little less painful." Eliot explained to her.

"You all came looking for me?" Parker asked, tears in her eyes.

"Of course we did, you're family Parker." Eliot said softly. He leaned in and kissed her forehead gently. "You need to know something else to. We had to create a few aliases, just in case we need to take you to the hospital or something happens and we end up dealing with cops." He said, biting his lower lip nervously, and wondering what she was going to think when she learned that they were 'married'.

"Okay, so who am I and who is everyone else so I don't mess it up?" Parker asked, wondering if she was going to like her name and if she would be able to keep everyone elses' aliases straight with her head pounding the way it was.

"All right, Sophie is going to be Dana Reynolds. Dana is a private tutor. Nate is Andrew Reynolds, Sophie's husband, and he is a photographer. Hardison is Reggie Ericson and he is a computer repair person. I am Sam Jones and I work as a bodyguard. You are Alana Jones, my wife, and you work as my assistant." Eliot said and winced, waiting for her to get angry over being his wife as well as his assistant.

"Okay, so we are married?" Parker asked as she started processing everything. "All right so Sophie is Dana and she is married to Andrew. Hardison's name is Reggie and you are Sam and I am Alana and we are married."

"Correct." Eliot said nodding his head.

"Are we going into hiding?" Parker asked him, biting her lower lip with a worried expression on her face.

"Just until you are better. Then we are going to come back and we are going to get even with those creeps, I promise you that Parker." Eliot told her as he kissed her forehead again. They both looked at the door as there was a knock on it and Eliot yelled out for the person to come inside. When their three friends walked in and smiled at Parker, they also had tray's of food, wanting all of them to eat together and go over what their plan was.

"It's great to see you awake Parker." Hardison said as he walked over and gave her a gentle hug. He saw the frown and flash of jealousy on Eliot's face and knew right then and there that Eliot was in love with Parker, now it was a matter of finding a way to get him to admit it to her, and get her to admit her feelings to him.

"We brought dinner in so we can eat and talk at the same time. We are going to be leaving in the morning, so we need to get everything straight tonight. Did Eliot give you the covers we are going to be using?" Nate asked as he handed a plate to Eliot and then he walked over and helped Parker sit gently and then set a tray on her lap with food and drinks on it. He took his plate and when everyone else had their food and drinks they all got settled.

"Yes. He said that Sophie is a private tutor by the name of Dana Reynolds and she is married to Nate who is playing Andrew Reynolds a photographer. Hardison is Reggie Ericson a computer repair guy. Eliot's name is Sam Jones and he is a bodyguard and I am his wife, Alana Jones and I work with him as his assistant as well." Parker said, remembering what she had been told earlier by Eliot.

"Good, now if you forget anything because we know you have a concussion and some head trauma, so it's only natural you would forget something, then just grab your head and start rubbing it, saying your head is hurting so badly, that concentrating on questions was causing a migraine to appear, then ask if they could just hold off on the questions. If there is something you don't know because we didn't cover it, then pull the same stunt. Also, because you have head trauma, we want you to say that you aren't clear on what happened to you yet, but you remember a few faces and you remember a lot of pain. If they show you a lineup and you see any of the men that hurt you or helped kidnap you or work with Depandi then we do want you to ID them as being involved, especially if they show you Depandi's picture. If we can get the cops to start hassling him, then it would slow down his business until we can start our plan to get revenge and make him pay." Nate informed her, making sure to talk slow and clearly, knowing she would get really confused if he didn't do it that way.

"Okay, so how about we figure out where we are going to go and how long we are going to lie low for?" Hardison spoke up.

They all sat there and talked for what seemed like hours. They went over different places where they could lie low and the things they could do while they were lying low. They talked for so long, that Parker felt like she was going to pass out. Eliot had given her, her medication, including the pain medication, and he was currently holding her close and lightly rubbing circles at her back, she enjoyed that because it was keeping her calm and making her feel safe and secure. She felt her eyelids dropping and the last thing she thought before she conked out on them was that she was glad they were her family but she was sure that Depandi was going to kill her, there was nothing anyone could do to save her from Depandi and she was afraid she was going to get her new family hurt, and that was something she would have a hard time living with.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Three Days Later…

Parker was bored out of her mind as she looked around the house that she and Eliot were staying in to keep their cover intact. The group were staying undercover and using their aliases at all times, just to make sure that if there was a problem and Parker needed a hospital or the cops got involved or something, that there was proof they were who they said. They had pictures and things that Hardison doctored all around their homes. They went out to different places, and met with the people in the city they were currently living in. Parker was playing the loving and devoted wife, the wife who was recovering from injuries she received in a car accident. Hardison had made sure that there was a police report in the system about her car accident, so if anyone in this city ran her name to check, there would be evidence that she had been hit by a drunk driver and to make sure that people were more sympathetic and didn't really try and get her to talk about what happened, they made it seem like she had been pregnant and suffered a miscarriage. That she had just found out she was pregnant a few days before and that crash had taken the life of her unborn child.

Parker knew that there were websites for their cover aliases careers, something she thought was funny. There were no addresses listed online, which was necessary for their safety and to keep Parker hidden. There were also no pictures allowed online, something was a precaution as well since they were using disguises in a way as well. Both Sophie and Parker had changed their hair color, and were wearing colored contacts. The guys were dressing differently and stuff.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Eliot asked walking into the room as he watched Parker twirl her 'wedding' ring around her finger.

"Just wondering how long we will be able to keep this up." Parker said softly.

"Hey, we are going to stay here and keep this up as long as it takes for you to get better. We are going to wait until you are comfortable and able to leave and get back to doing the things we do best. This is what family does for one another, we make sacrifices to keep each other safe and healthy." Eliot told her, realizing she wasn't sure how to accept the things people did for each other. Parker didn't do well with feelings and she was very naïve when it came to families and the dealing with being the one that caused people to go underground. Parker was the one who didn't ask for help, and she was the one who never admitted when something was getting to her.

"This isn't fair to you all. We should just head back and I can deal with Depandi in my own way. He is a blast from my past, that makes him my problem and a problem I had before I met any of you." Parker said, so confused and unsure of how to deal with everything going on in her head at this moment in time.

"Parker, it's not going to happen." Eliot said with a crooked grin on his face. "Besides, you know you like being my 'wife', we both know you have the hots for me." Eliot teased her, wanting to see a smile on her face rather than the frown that showed her confusion and need to get away from the emotions that were building inside of her.

"Haha, we both know it's you that likes this whole 'marriage' thing." Parker said with a smile slowly spreading across her face.

Parker didn't want to admit it out loud to anyone, but she really did like this whole marriage thing with Eliot. She liked knowing he was on her side, and that no matter what happened he would have her back. Parker liked it even more, that every night they were in the same house alone, and that they acted like a married couple. She had noticed that once they moved into the house, they had fallen into a normal domestic routine, one that confused everyone around them. When Sophie, Nate and Hardison had come over to visit them, like friends often did, they had noticed that Parker and Eliot had acted like they really were married, when there was no need to keep acting married since they were the only ones in the room.

Parker had noticed that they were always checking with each other when a decision about something involving the house they were staying in had to be made. Eliot did the cooking and the cleaning, although Parker had said she should be allowed to at least do the dishes. But Eliot said her job was to recover from the injuries she was suffering from, especially since it was clear if Parker overdid it or tried to do too much she felt the pain from those injuries ten times worse than she had before she pushed herself too hard. They did laundry together and cleaned the house together, even though Eliot wouldn't let her do anything more than wipe down tables and other things with furniture polish or a dust rag.

"Hey being husband and wife isn't…"Eliot trailed off as their doorbell rang. Eliot and Parker both knew that Hardison was keeping his cover intact by going out with one of the local women, and they had gone out twice in the three days they had been in this town. It was a shocker that he had already made such a move since they had only been in these cover aliases for three days. Sophie and Nate were out on a double date with their new neighbors and had invited Parker and Eliot to go along, but because everyone thought Parker had been in a devastating car crash a few days ago, one that had taken the life of their unborn child, they had declined, for the sake of Parker needing to recover and deal with the emotions inside of her over the loss.

"Are we expecting anyone?" Parker asked Eliot, wondering if there was someone who was looking to hire 'Sam Jones' for a gig or not.

"Not that I know of." Eliot said shaking his head and walking slowly to the door.

"Well then, I guess we better be ready for trouble and go and see who is at the door." Parker said softly as they walked slowly hand in hand to the door. "Remember my name is Alana and you are Sam, and we have been married for three years now." Parker reminded Eliot, and he nodded as they stopped at the front door.

They both took deep breaths and nodded their heads. Eliot looked through the peephole to check out who was out there and to make sure it wasn't someone that he should be hiding Parker from right off the bat. He didn't really recognize the people standing there, but he did notice that there were five people standing there, three men and two women. Eliot was nervous at the sight of so many people but he knew he couldn't show it, that would be way too suspicious considering they were supposed to be a grieving but loving couple.

Parker opened the door and smiled at the group of people standing there. Now was the time to find out, were the people there for innocent and good reasons, or had Parker just opened the door to the group of people that were there to take them out of the picture?


	8. Chapter 8

Authors Note: Sorry if this chapter isn't up to par, but we have been through a lot lately. We moved, my health isn't great and my Great Grandmother was taken to the ICU and she had a lot of problems, they actually told us she was on deaths door but she fought to come back to us but she isn't herself, she is 98 yrs old so who knows whats going to happen now... she is still with us and we are sending her to a rehab center to try and get her back to where she was before she had a bunch of strokes and some other things... her lungs were drained of fluid... so my focus was to get you something to read for now and i will try and make the next chapter better, sooo please don't hate me if this one sux and don't stop reading on me.

* * *

Chapter 8

Parker was really cautious as she stood next to Eliot and they watched the people that were sitting around them. Parker had a feeling that the people that were standing there, were people she didn't want to associate herself with at all. Eliot knew that Parker was on edge, and he tried his hardest to put her at ease. Parker was keeping close to Eliot but she had a feeling that she knew the people that were standing there, and it was that feeling that was making her even more uneasy.

"Alana, you must be so happy that you have such a devoted and loving husband." The brunette stated, drawing out the word husband and making it seem like they weren't happily married.

"Who are you people?" Eliot asked them. He felt how Parker was getting even more tense and he realized that for whatever reason these people were there, it was not something that Parker and Eliot wanted to be a part of or know anything about.

"Well we are the welcoming committee of this town, basically." The brunette said as she sent a flirtatious glance in Eliot's direction.

"Well, good for you." Parker murmured under her breath so only Eliot could hear her. "Well we appreciate you stopping by." Parker said loud enough for the people in the room to hear, she was getting a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that had to do with them. She knew there was something off about them but she wasn't all that sure what it was.

"Look, Alana, we understand that you and your husband, Sam, are going through a lot. I mean it must have been a hard thing to suffer a miscarriage in such a bad car accident." One man was saying as he glanced at Parker, and it was clear that he was really into her, something was starting to get Eliot really riled up. He had yet to tell Parker about his true feelings, mainly because he was still having trouble admitting those feelings to himself.

It took another three hours before Parker and Eliot were able to get rid of the group of people and both of them were aware that there was only going to be trouble for them from now on. There was something about the group that got under their skin, and Eliot was beginning to think they could be involved with people who might want to hurt them, or even involved with Depandi and could have been sent here to see if it was really Parker that was here. Eliot was worried that these people could make their lives much more difficult, which was something Parker didn't need right now.

"Why do you think they really came here?" Parker asked as she sat on the couch next to Eliot. She was looking somewhat pale and she was withdrawn into herself. Eliot knew right away she was trying to make sense of why they were already having trouble, when they hadn't even pulled any jobs or really been out of the house in this town.

"I don't know." Eliot said carefully. He had already informed her, via writing on a pad of paper, that until they could sweep for bugs again, they needed to stick with their covers and pretend to be a happily married couple trying to get over a huge tragedy. "Maybe they were really here to meet us. Maybe they were curious about us."

"I guess that could be the case, I mean we could be the most interesting thing in town now. I mean since our friends are not staying in this town but the one next to us. I wonder if they are the talk of the town there?" Parker mused aloud softly.

"Who knows, I mean we could call them and find out if you want to." Eliot said as he frowned and looked at the phone and then back at her, almost like the thought of bringing their friends into what had happened would be like taking it away from him.

"What's the matter?" Parker asked him, noticing the change in him.

"You're my responsibility, I want to be the one that makes you feel safe and if you don't feel safe and you think you need to make a phone call to the others, then I guess I am…" Eliot was cut off as Parker did the only thing she could think of to shut him up, she climbed on his lap and kissed him hard while straddling him.

Parker could tell that it had surprised Eliot because he wasn't kissing her at first and she was getting ready to panic, thinking she had crossed a huge line and he was going to be pissed, then he surprised her by moaning and wrapping his arms around her, one hand going into her hair to hold her head to his as he kissed her back. Parker knew this was changing their relationship, but the question was, was it for the better?

* * *

Depandi was pissed off again. He was trying desperately to track down Parker again, he needed to find her. She had escaped his prison for her and she was out there, probably healing from the injuries he had inflicted and that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted her suffering, he wanted her begging to be saved or begging for relief from the pain she was feeling. He knew that he was going to be inflicting a lot more pain the next time he saw her because he wanted her suffering, he wanted her begging and he wanted to see the fear on her face that would be mixed with pain and the knowledge that she was most likely going to be killed.

"I want to know where she is and I want to know right now!" Depandi growled as he punched out at one of his long time men.

"We are searching everywhere and we have feelers out for her, we will find her sir." One man spoke up from his position near the door, leaning against the doorjamb.

"Good, when you find her, make sure you leave her to me." Depandi said as an evil grin crossed his face.


	9. Chapter 9

Authors Note: Hey, today is a hard day. My great grandmother, who I am close to, passed away this morning. So I am trying to keep writing, but my mind probably isn't all there. So if something doesn't make sense, go ahead and send me a private message and I will be glad to explain further and then obviously, I would write an authors note next chapter explaining to everyone else.

Thank you for being loyal readers and reviewers, please keep reading and reviewing, all positive please, i am not sure if i can handle a negative review right now.

Kris

* * *

Chapter 9

Parker could tell that Eliot wasn't sure how to respond to her. He had been giving her the silent treatment since she shut him up by kissing him the other day. She knew his male pride always said he made the first move, and unless her female radar was off, she knew he was at least somewhat attracted to her. She hadn't told him that she had been attracted to him for a long time. Parker had first seen Eliot a while before the team first met and got together, she had seen him when he had nearly interrupted her job and he almost had her. He had apparently been hired to retrieve the same thing she had been trying to steal for months. She had put a lot of work into figuring out a way into the secure vault that held the huge Emerald that she had fancied. She knew that the Emerald didn't have any security numbers on it yet, which meant if she wanted to sell it or have it set into a necklace or something no one would see the numbers and know it was stolen. However, it appeared someone else had wanted the jewel and they had hired Eliot to retrieve it.

Parker had watched from the vents in the roof of the vault, watching as he started fighting with the security force. She couldn't see his face, he had it covered and he had no idea she had already taken out the camera's, so he threw something at each camera, smashing it to make sure it couldn't record him. She was so distracted as she had watched him, enjoying how he fought, enjoying how he managed to not even break a sweat or get out of breath, showing how great a shape he was in, and then she had snapped out of it as he snatched _**her **_Emerald. She had widened her eyes and anger sparked from her, he took her present, her prize and she didn't like that one bit.

So when she had seen him there, in that room as they started talking about stealing the plans and what they were going to do, as Nate ran everything, she had nearly choked on her drool. She was trying so hard not to let her jaw drop and to let her drool start to fall and show everyone how much she really wanted to be with Eliot. When she had run into that elevator, she hated that Hardison was in there, because she was curious on what Eliot would have done when she tore her shirt off and showed there was no bra on her body. She had purposely teased Eliot over the few years they had been working together, sometimes she would squeeze his thigh without anyone else seeing it, enjoying how the blush would appear on his cheeks.

But now they were husband and wife, again, and he was ignoring her because she had kissed him instead of waiting until he kissed her. She sighed and walked over to where he was sitting on the couch watching a sports game but she could already tell that he wasn't really watching it. She smirked, if he wanted to ignore him then she would torture him.

"You know, I was wondering, would it be all right if I did what I normally do at home? I want to be as comfortable as possible." Parker said, her eyes widening in innocence but there was nothing innocent about what she intended to do at the moment.

"Don't care." Eliot mumbled as he kept his eyes on the television and Parker got a smug look on her face.

Suddenly Parker tore her shirt off, still no bra on. Then she pushed her shorts and panties off and just strutted around the house, and she loved feeling Eliot's eyes on her. She could tell his eyes were practically bulging out of his head as he watched her.

"What are you doing?" He practically shouted at her.

"You said I could do what I do at home." Parker said innocently. "I am just making myself at home." She said, knowing she was teasing him and loving it. She could already see that she was affecting him, it wouldn't be long until he finally gave in and admitted his true feelings and when he did, she would tell him how she felt as well.

* * *

Depandi was getting annoyed as he read over the latest reports that had been sent to him. No one knew where Nate Ford had hidden Parker but wherever she was, Depandi was sure that the entire team was there as well. He had attempted to look for people who were living in the same house, people who recently purchased a large house or a business office and a group of people that could be living in that home or working in that office. There were no reports of any of that happening or anything like that being purchased, which really worried him at the moment. How could someone just manage to slip away and not just one person, a group of people, and there be no trace of where they were?

"I want Parker found and soon, because if she isn't found soon, I am going to start taking it out on all of you, one by one. For every week she is gone, one of you will be locked inside the torture devices made just for her. One of you will suffer what she should be suffering until she is brought back to me to suffer her punishments!" Depandi growled out, throwing the papers against the wall, the anger that was flashing from his eyes enough to scare even the hardest of his men.

* * *

Nate was getting nervous as he paced inside the home he was sharing with his 'wife'. At the moment she had gone out to meet Hardison and he was going to give her some special equipment that Nate needed to start working on a plan to protect Parker and get even with the man who was determined to torture and probably kill her. Nate knew that everyone was counting on him to come up with a plan that would keep her safe and get this man and his team off her back, for good. He was putting enough pressure on himself without the added pressure, but he had to admit that Sophie was helping him out, she was making sure he was relaxed and that nothing happened to him, because the last thing they needed was for Nate to give in to the main problems he knew were just waiting to creep up on him. He had a panic attack twice already, Sophie had calmed him down and gotten him through it, and now he just hoped that with the equipment Hardison had managed to get, he could finally find a way to keep the most fragile member of their team, safe and help her heal from the wounds that they had never known were there. Nate was sure that Eliot would learn soon, as soon as Parker allowed herself to relax, when she did that, the pain and everything that she had been hiding from would finally come to light and there would be nothing any of them could do for her, but be there to keep her safe and let her cry.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Parker was smirking as she snacked on some cereal. She could see that Eliot was trying to look everywhere but at her, she was really getting to him. She had been strutting around the house with nothing on for the past two days, and she knew that his patience was wearing thin, especially when she nearly went to answer the door, with nothing on. He blew a gasket and made her go to her bedroom and at least put on a robe and pretend she was about to get in the shower or something, then he had answered the door. Parker knew he was trying everything he could to keep his witts about him, but she wanted him to lose them.

She took another bite of cereal and watched as he walked wearily into the kitchen and avoided looking in her direction, again. She smirked to herself and could tell he was affected by her, she could see he wasn't sleeping well either, that was his problem not hers. She started to think back again to another time she and Eliot had encountered each other, a time that she was sure he probably didn't remember at all.

_Flashback_

_Parker was watching the security team closely, trying to get their routine down and find the weak points. This was the part about stealing that she hated. She wished she could just go in without doing all the legwork of watching the big nasty security people who were pretending they were big bad cops that shouldn't be messed with. She rolled her eyes and then they went wide, she saw him as he entered wearing a security uniform. This was getting more interesting. Then she frowned, if he was grabbing the same piece she was, then they were going to have a huge problem because she wasn't enjoying his interference in her jobs lately. _

_She watched as he talked lightly with the other security guards and she felt like she was going to start drooling soon. His uniform barely fit him, which made her think he had stolen it from someone else, probably whoever was hired and the other guards hadn't met yet. She watched as he studied the case that held her target and her eyes narrowed severely. They were going to fight. No way was she going to lose this one, no way was he getting in her way again._

_Narrowing her eyes even more she slipped into the ladies room and changed into a very revealing outfit, and she did her hair the best she knew how, considering she wasn't very girly and makeup was a foreign concept to her, basically. She did the best she could and she shrugged, hoping it would be enough to distract him._

_Parker waited until it was nighttime and then she made her move. She left the ladies room and pretended to be confused about why everything was so dark and why there wasn't really anyone around. She knew that her blonde hair would make it easy for her to pretend to be an airhead. She walked down the stairs and headed to her target, then she smirked as she saw Eliot also heading that way. Parker had the fake one, ready to replace the real one. She pretended to trip over her heels, well she wasn't really pretending since heels were not something she could walk in, and fell into the security around the target. The alarms sounded and she made sure she had knocked the thing over. She made the switch quickly blocking all camera's. Then she pretended she had hurt herself a bit, Eliot helped her._

_"Are you all right ma'am?" He asked her, using a southern accent._

_"I am not sure. I think someone must have slipped me something or something like that. Where am I? Why is this place empty? Why is all this stuff here?" Parker asked with a fake innocent look._

_"This is a museum." Another security guard said. A quick glance confirmed to Parker that it was the head of security and he was practically drooling over the cleavage Parker was showing, in fact all of the male guards standing there were drooling and only one of them picked up the knocked over pedestal and replaced the antique gun on top of it. The gun was said to be one used way back in one of the earliest wars, and it was said to be worth a lot of money. _

_"Oh dear, I hope I didn't break anything." Parker said her hand that was adorned with some diamond rings, done to make them think she was a rich young woman who was single and worth so much money that they would be afraid of losing their jobs if they messed with her, flying to her chest. The move also made sure their attention went back to her cleavage._

_"It's all right ma'am. I think that there was something on the floor you tripped over." The head of security said, making up an excuse for her. _

_"Thank you all for being so nice." Parker said softly, well aware that Eliot was still holding onto her. _

_"I think I should take her to first aid and check her out before I walk her outside." Eliot said, knowing the attention would be on the target he had wanted to steal now._

_"Good idea, Walter." The head of security said nodding his head._

_Parker wanted to laugh, Walter? She couldn't believe he was going along with that alias name, she didn't think he looked like a Walter and how someone else was buying he was a Walter was something she didn't understand. She kept her mind clear, a hard thing to do since Eliot was carrying her. Parker, however, clutched her bag close to her, not wanting him to look in there or touch it. She knew the real gun was in there, and she didn't want to chance him knowing who she was and that she had taken it. She was glad she had remembered to create an alias and grab that ID before coming to the museum that night. As he set her on the first aid table she nervously watched as he checked out her legs. She could see the lust in his eyes and she wanted so badly to make him snap and act on it. What was wrong with her? Why was she acting this way with a rival? _

_"Does anything hurt?" Eliot asked her, his voice suddenly very hoarse._

_"Nothing you can see." Parker said with a flirtacious tone._

_Eliot groaned and Parker's eyes went wide. Suddenly he gripped her head, his fingers tangling in her hair and he kissed her hard. She kissed him back, grateful he had locked the door to this room when he had entered it with her. Parker knew they were going to be doing something, or at least they would have since his hands had gone to the closure of her dress and she was anticipating him undressing her, when there was a knock at the door and the jangle of keys showed that his 'boss' was probably out there and he was about to open the door. Parker and Eliot broke apart and she wiped the lipstick off his lips._

_"I think I really am fine, I should be going." Parker said, jumping down from the table with a pretend wince. She had to make it look really good. _

_End Flashback_

Parker smirked as she remembered that night so well. She still had that gun stashed away. She had made sure that she had the real thing, she knew how to check those things out without letting anyone else see she had the weapon. She had heard on the news later on that they had released a statement that they had a fake antique at their museum, something that confused them since when it had been brought in it had been real. Many people had just figured the person that had checked it out had been wrong and there was never any report of a theft. There had been pleas from the museum owners that whoever had the real one, that they could donate it to their museum for the already built exhibit. Parker had just smirked, knowing the truth.

Parker looked over and realized she knew what Eliot would respond to, she was going to wear something very sexy and she was going to make him crack. He wasn't looking at her because she was nude but if she wore sexy clothes then he would have no choice but to look. Oh this was going to be so good, she was going to break Eliot no matter what.

* * *

Depandi was pacing back and forth, he had to find Parker and he had to find her fast. He knew she was the one who knew all the information he needed and all the information that could ruin him. She had been the one that had crossed him and she needed to pay. He sat down and rubbed his temples. Then as a new plan hit him he came up with an idea, maybe he should just go after her little friends. Maybe it was time to find the others that had most likely been behind her rescue. She would trade herself for one of them, he knew she would. He knew Parker better than anyone, and he knew that he was going to have her, and she would pay very soon.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Parker found a dress that she knew would make Eliot think twice about ignoring her now. She was so excited as she got ready to put it on and she was wincing at the thought of heels and opted not to even attempt them, as it was she hated wearing the tight clothing she knew she was about to be in. She opened the bag that was sitting on the floor and looked through all her gear, the gear that would allow her to repel off the roof of any tall building around, and Parker hadn't been able to do that for a while and so Parker had a choice to make. It was dark outside, she could always run out and repel off the roof of a building and just chill out somewhere, or she could change and try and seduce Eliot, again. Parker bit her lip and tossed the dress aside, as much as she had feelings for Eliot, she was going nuts with not being allowed to do the things she loved, and so she was going to sneak out and do what she felt like doing.

Eliot was wondering what was taking Parker so long in the bedroom. He frowned and opened the door and was shocked to not only see the room empty, but her bag full of gear was long gone.

"No way, Parker!" Eliot growled out as he grabbed his phone to call the others, he was going to need Hardison to activate the GPS tracker that Parker had under the skin in her arm, something Eliot had made sure to place there himself. He knew there was a chance that Parker was going to take off and so he needed a way to track her when she did. "Hardison, I need you to please turn on Parkers tracker and let me know where to go!" Eliot said into the phone, the minute it was picked up.

"You got it!" Hardison said with a chuckle into the phone. It was clear that Eliot was never going to hear the end of losing Parker, ever.

"Man Parker, are you going to pay for this." Eliot muttered under his breath as he grabbed his shoes and immediately put them on and grabbed anything he thought he would need, wondering if she was going to make herself well known and a target, Depandi was still out there and he was still looking for Parker, he was still out for her blood.

* * *

Depandi was shaking he was in such a rage. He was staring at the photo's that he had of Parker, and he was wondering where she was. He wanted his revenge against her, and it was pissing him off that she was not in his hands. He had plans for taking his revenge on her, he had plans for making her pay for everything she ever did to him, and she wasn't there for him to take out his plans for revenge on her! He threw a knife at the photo of her that really made him angry, the photo that had been taken of her laughing as she hung out with her friends. He knew that if he tracked those people down, then he might have a shot at getting her back in his grasp. Depandi wasn't playing any games, he wasn't a man to be crossed and those people were going to learn, that they should have just cut their losses and allowed him to have his way when it came to Parker, because she was the one who had crossed him in the wrong way. He had a lot of his best people out there looking for her, and he knew it wouldn't be long till she was back in his clutches and when she was, he was going to make sure that she hurt worse than she did the first time she was with him.

"Parker, you are going to wish you had never ever gotten on my bad side to begin with. I swear, you are going to wish you had never been born." Depandi growled out as he threw a second knife and smirked as he saw where it landed.

* * *

Parker was laughing as she repelled off the roof for the third time. She had been moving from building to building and she was having so much fun. As she got back up and collected her gear and was packing it away, wondering if she could find another roof to repel down. As she finished packing up she nearly screamed as she felt someone grab her around the middle and throw her over their shoulder in a fireman style carry. She watched as he picked up her bag and she knew it was Eliot.

"You could just let me go to another roof and have some more fun, I mean you're with me now, you can watch my back!" Parker said as she clutched at his jacket on his back.

"Don't think so, blondie!" Eliot growled out as he went down the stairs quickly and then threw her into the vehicle that their undercover aliases were using. "Since we are supposed to be a very happy couple, I would suggest you stop wearing black and making me angry, it's kind of hard not to frown at you when you decide to ignore the fact you have really, and I mean really, bad injuries. You should be in the house and resting, instead of making yourself a sitting duck for any of Depandi's little minions to come out and find you!"

"Eliot, I was real careful." Parker said with a small pout on her face as Eliot drove them back to the house they were living in.

"I don't care Parker, I don't know what any of us would do if he got his hands on you again Parker it would kill all of us." Eliot said softly.

"Really?" Parker asked with a small smile. She bit her lower lip as she remembered another run in with Eliot from their past, a run in that had nearly undid her since it had happened after she had stolen that gun from right underneath him.

_Flashback_

_Parker was rubbing the back of her neck, wearing her hair in a messy ponytail as she tried to canvas the newest target of hers. As she looked over she saw him, again. It seemed like they were just destined to constantly run into each other, maybe always work the same jobs again, but this time, she really didn't care about the score, she had just been hoping it would be something he would be coming after, because she hadn't been able to get him out of her head, and he had no idea who she really was. She knew someone had been checking into that alias, and she had hoped it was him, but he hadn't been able to find her, thank goodness she made everything look really good._

_She was wearing a new outfit, one that was not as revealing as the one she had worn earlier and she wasn't sure if he would like this one, but she was hoping she would be able to find out who he really was and who he actually worked for or if he was an independent, like she was. As she started towards him, she nearly lost it when a brunette headed over to him, running her hands across his chest, all Parker wanted to do was yank her away and hit her or something, those feeling surprised her more than anything in the world, and it scared her and so she did what she always did best, she ran away._

_End flashback._

Parker bit her bottom lip at the memory of that skanky brunettes hands all over Eliot and all she wanted to was ask him, if he was interested in her or if she was only wasting her time flirting with him at all, because it would break her heart if she learned she had no chance at his heart.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Parker was leaning back into the cushions on the couch and she was smirking as Nate and Sophie read her the riot act over scaring Eliot and running off the night before. She knew they all were worried, she just didn't understand why they were so worried. She knew Depandi was looking for her, she just didn't know why anyone would care that she was repelling off the roofs, it was what she loved to do and she had been doing it for much longer than she had known any of them.

"I don't get why you are so mad." Parker said softly as she looked at them carefully.

"You don't know…" Eliot trailed off, throwing his hands in the air and pacing away from where she was sitting. "Parker, you could have been grabbed by anyone who may already have a bead on where we are! What would have happened if Depandi had already found us and was just waiting for the right time to be able to grab you up?" Eliot snapped at her, impatient and annoyed.

"Then I would have…" Parker trailed off, her face going incredibly pale as she thought about being back in his hands. She knew what would happen now that she had been rescued and she had gotten away from him, she knew he was going to lose it and she knew he was going to be even more pissed off.

"Parker, we just don't want anything else to happen to you, so please stick close to Eliot and stay here. Please don't run off and go somewhere without talking to any of us or letting us know where you are." Sophie spoke up, seeing how pale her friend was and realizing she was freezing in fear. She had only seen Parker look like this one other time, and it had hurt her then and seeing her like this now, knowing the terror she must be feeling, it was hurting Sophie as much as it was hurting Parker.

"I will try my best, but you have to realize I am not used to having to answer to anyone or rely on anyone else." Parker said softly.

"I understand, none of us are used to relying on someone else, but this time, it's important that you try." Nate spoke up, seeing how much Parker wanted to follow the rules but wasn't sure how to.

* * *

Depandi was angry as he slammed his fist into the wall and stared at the people standing in front of him. They had all failed him again, and it was making him even more angry with them then he might be with Parker. The things that he wanted to do to Parker, he could only imagine because until she was in front of him he couldn't touch her. He sucked in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. He could see how frightened his new team was and he was glad to see that they knew not to mess with him anymore.

"You want to tell me why it's so hard to find that little blonde idiot?" Depandi asked with a low tone of voice, the tone that usually made people fidget and pace in nervousness.

"Sir, she isn't using any credit cars, or any of the aliases we know about. Her team, the people you told us to look for are off the map as well." One of the men spoke up.

"Well did you try running her picture through the computer systems we have hacked into. It will take longer but someone has to have a photo of her somewhere, with her new name on it!" Depandi asked his team immediately annoyed with them.

"Yes sir, we looked." Another man spoke up, he was twiddling his thumbs, something he always did when he was scared or nervous.

"I suggest you try harder, and you better find her or I will take out some of my anger on you." Depandi said with his evil smile that always seemed to freak people out.

* * *

Parker was rubbing the back of her neck as she sat on the couch, she could smell the food that Eliot was making in the kitchen and she sighed in pleasure. She had known Eliot had talent in the kitchen for a while but she always thought about the times where she had managed to run across him. She remembered the one time that they had actually gotten their aliases kicked out of and banned from a major restaurant.

_Flashback_

_Parker was smoothing out the fine and expensive dress she was wearing. She wasn't wearing heels with it, mainly because if she wore heels she would fall or bump into something and that wouldn't fit well with her plan for the night. She was supposed to get the wallet of a high level executive who carried a special key card inside of it. As soon as she had that key card, she had a way to make a copy and then she needed to slip the wallet back into his pocket, because if he found it missing he would report it stolen and the key card would be changed, then she would be in trouble. She looked around and caught sight of who she was looking for, but the worst part was __**he **__was there too. Eliot Spencer was sitting at the same table as the person she planned to steal the wallet from. The only reason he would be there is if he was after the same thing she was, again. _

_Parker was really getting tired of seeing him in the same place, attempting to pull the same job that she was pulling. She was thinking of a way to distract him and the executive so she could get the wallet, make the copy and then return the wallet without anyone realizing it was missing. Then she watched as Eliot flirted and put his arm around the skanky looking woman sitting next to him, the woman who was running her fingers over his chest, like that brunette last time._

_Parker sat at the table her alias had booked and as she made eye contact with Eliot, she knew he was wondering why he was getting the evil eye. Parker was smirking as she made sure the waiter tripped, and the food that was on his tray went all over Eliot and the female sitting next to him. She knew Eliot knew she was behind it. He stood up, staring at her in shock, before he picked up some food and hurled it in her direction. Parker was in shock as she walked to a nearby table and retaliated. The food fight was on._

_They were both escorted out and Parker had failed to get what she needed that time, yet she was covered in food, the same as Eliot was. When they were standing outside, she smirked and blew him a kiss before walking away._

_End Flashback._

Parker was laughing at the memory, and she was wondering if Eliot even knew it was her that had caused that whole scene. She felt the fear that was still there deep inside of her, and she was scared to wonder what was going to happen if Depandi really did find her again.


	13. Chapter 13

Authors Note: Sorry for the long wait but there was a problem every time i went to update a new chapter! For some reason it kept giving me an error message and it wasn't just on one day, it was over and over again and with more than one story so I am glad it's finally working so I can bring you all updates! I am going to try and update all the stories now, sooner rather than later! thanks for being patient.

Kris

* * *

Chapter 13

Parker rolled her eyes as Eliot once again tried to teach her how to fight back if she was captured by Depandi or any of his crew members, or goons as she liked to call them. She knew how to do this, she had done the same move several times before, but it appeared that Eliot was determined to torture her into submission, she wondered if she could do the same to him. She smirked as she looked down at herself, covered in sweat, her t-shirt was plastered to her body and so she decided to strip it off. She was standing in her sports bra and very short shorts. She could tell that Eliot was trying very hard not to stare and now that her shirt was off, he was really trying harder. He was even trying not to have full body contact when he was teaching her how to fight, inside Parker was laughing so hard that she was wondering if her face or eyes reflected what was going on in her head.

She managed to catch Eliot off guard and when he went to the ground, she made sure to fall right on top of him, then moved so she was straddling him. She smirked as Eliot tried to move so she couldn't feel how aroused he was, and she wondered if he knew how much she wanted him to just kiss her and make his move. She knew she loved him, she wasn't sure how she knew that or how she even knew what was love was, considering her background and how no one in her life had ever really loved her, but deep down she knew that was what she was feeling for Eliot and it was confusing her so much.

"Eliot, why don't you find me attractive?" Parker asked him a couple hours later when they had both showered and she was watching him cook their dinner.

Eliot nearly choked on the sip of beer he had just taken and he carefully set the long neck bottle aside and looked at her carefully, almost like he was judging how to answer this question without hurting her feelings or something. "Parker, who said I didn't find you attractive?" He finally decided on using as his answer.

"Well, you always avoid looking at me when I try and get you to, you know, do anything about it and you won't even sleep in the same room as me." Parker said with a sigh of displeasure and annoyance. "I thought guys liked to do things with girls."

Eliot stared at her, his mouth open in shock as he realized his Parker was really genuinely confused and she really didn't think he wanted anything to do with her. "Parker, it's just that I am supposed to be looking out for you, protecting you. I don't want to take advantage of the situation. Besides, we both know that Hardison has had the hots for you ever since that kiss and that time you changed in the elevator." Eliot said nervously, trying to get her off this topic.

"You were the one looking when I took the shirt off." Parker said, completely shocking Eliot.

"How did you…" Eliot trailed off. He had been so sure he had been discreet when he had been checking out a topless Parker, before she had managed to change her clothing and they continued on with their con.

"Eliot, I may seem like an idiot to all of you, but I am not one." Parker said, clearly getting more annoyed by the answer he gave her.

"Parker, no one thinks that you're an idiot." Eliot said softly.

"Yes you all do. Let me know when dinner is ready." Parker said as she jumped off the stool and wondered into the bedroom that was hers. She wondered if Eliot really thought she was pretty or if he was just checking he out because he was stuck in the house with just her and she was the only woman around that he could check out. She sighed, this whole male and female attraction thing was confusing and it was giving her a major headache.

* * *

Depandi threw the pitcher of water at the wall and waited until the shattered glass hit the ground before he turned and looked at the team that was still just standing there and shaking, they knew they had messed up but they had never seen their boss shoot one of them and kill them over it. The body of one his main men was lying there, the blood was soaking into the carpet and Depandi knew the other men were scared they were going to be next, maybe that was what they had needed to see that he wanted Parker back in his clutches immediately, and it wasn't a game. He knew some of the men had stopped at a casino and pretended they had looked for her, those men had been killed just as they walked into the gates. This one had been the only one allowed to enter the house, so he could be used as an example.

"Does anyone else think that finding Parker is a joke anymore?" Depandi asked them, caressing the gun in his hand. He even lightly ran the gun across the cheek of one the men who was shaking pretty hard but trying to cover his reaction. Depandi wasn't usually fond of cowards, but in this situation, he needed them to be afraid so they would search day and night for Parker.

"No sir." They all answered together.

"Good then bring her to me, alive, now!" Depandi snapped as he dismissed them and then sighed. He fired another bullet into the body on the ground and then motioned for his other people to clean up the mess and get rid of it for him. "Soon Parker, real soon there won't be any place that you can hide from me." He murmured as he took a sip of the whiskey he had poured himself before the meeting with his men had taken place. "Real soon." He said again.

* * *

Parker was staring at the ceiling and wondering about all she had been through, and why she was the only one that seemed to remember these things, and then she remembered that she had worn disguises and used fake names, while Eliot had always been just Eliot. She smiled as she remembered the time she had run into him on a train, a train where she thought she was trapped by some guys that may have wanted to kill her.

_Flashback:_

_Parker was scared, for the first time in her life, she was really terrified. She was hurrying through different cars and wondering if she could jump off the moving train but she knew that was stupid. Even if she survived the jump, they were in the middle of nowhere and she would die before she managed to find someone to help her or another train. She saw they were getting closer and she ducked into the nearby passenger sleeping car, this one was housed by a single man and she nearly groaned when she saw who it was. Then she realized he was a hitter, he might be able to help her on this one thing. She hurried in, pressing her finger to his lips, she crawled under the curtained seats and hid there, wondering if she would get out of this one thing alive._

_When the men glanced in, guns drawn, she heard the angry voice of Eliot telling them they better get out of there before they wake his delicate wife. The wife who was currently carrying their first child and after several miscarriages, she couldn't handle any stress or she might lose their baby. She felt him get off the seat and she heard him walking over to the men. It wasn't long before the door to the car closed and the curtains were pulled shut. She heard the lock clicking and suddenly she was pulled out. She was about to start fighting when she realized it was Eliot._

_"Thank you." She said softly, making sure she kept up the fake accent she had been using for this cover._

_"I got some things to change your appearance. Drop the accent, you're my wife for the rest of this journey and lucky for you I have a ticket and passport for a woman to be just that. There was supposed to be a female coming with me, helping me on the job I need and it's now become you." Eliot snapped as he pulled out a suitcase and made her change everything, including the wig she had been wearing but he thought it was her real hair. _

_Parker was okay with using the things he had, since she hadn't brought any luggage or bags with her this time. She had planned to just buy what she needed when she got wherever, and she kept her credit card on her person, she checked and saw it was still safe and she put it inside the new outfit that she was wearing, she had a feeling she was about to have a real adventure, and this time it was with Eliot Spencer at her side._

Flashback and Story to continue next Chapter folks….LOL. Stay tuned.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Parker could tell that Eliot was trying to fight all of his feelings for her and as much as she appreciated that he wanted to keep his head clear and make sure he stayed focused so that he could hear if there were any threats to her well being, she hated the fact that Eliot could pretend there was nothing there between them, that he could act like they were just colleagues and nothing more. She doubted he would even call her his friends right about now. Sighing Parker decided that if he was going to hurt her feelings like this, then while he cooked dinner she was going to get even with home.

"Would you like me to make some fresh juice with the juicer?" Parker asked innocently.

"Sure, I need to go out and barbeque these steaks, do you know how to work the juicer?" Eliot asked her and then smiled at the very annoyed look she sent his way. "Understood." He said as he took the food to the barbeque in the backyard and wondered if she really did know how to work the big machine that he loved using.

Parker made sure he was outside before she got to work getting even. She got the juicer set up to make juice and then she grabbed some fruits and vegetables, she knew those were vital but it was the other stuff she was going to add that made this drink about revenge and not about being nice to him. She started off with the veggies and then added in some fruit, now it was show time. First she added in a can of sardines, plugging her nose as she dumped them in. Then she added a chocolate cupcake, although that was hard for her since that was her favorite. Then she added hot dogs and sausages. Then she managed to put in some cheese cubes. She stood there and thought real hard if there was anything else that she should add to the juicer to make her point.

She grabbed a jar of green olives and just dumped in a little bit of the olive juice that they sit in. Grinning she looked around for anything else that she could add and she saw some meatballs sitting in the fridge from the spaghetti dinner they had had. She tossed in two of those and made sure to also add in some red food coloring so that the juice would actually turn a red color. When everything had ended up in the pitcher that the juice went into when it was being made, she gave it a bit of a stir to make sure that the red coloring mixed in good and was glad to see that it looked okay. She poured Eliot a glass over ice to make sure that it was cold, and she set it on the counter and put the parts of the juicer in the sink that needed to be cleaned, because after what she had put through it, she really needed to clean it.

When Eliot walked into the kitchen with the steaks he had made and the corn on the cob he had grilled he smiled when he saw the glass of juice and immediately picked it up, and took a huge gulp of it.

* * *

Depandi was looking around the town that was the latest possible location where Parker could be hiding out. He was going to find her and she was going to have to learn a very hard lesson when it came to what you were allowed to do and what you weren't. He could tell that this would be the perfect place to blend in and keep a low profile, and if they really were here, it would also be easy to find out. All you ever had to do in a town this small was ask who the new comers were to town and they usually gave it up pretty easily. Depandi was sure that they were probably using aliases, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out if it really was her and her little team. Depandi knew Parker better than anyone else, and it wouldn't be long before she decided she couldn't just sit around and try and be a normal person, she was going to need to be a thief and she was going to need to do something wild and different soon, she wasn't a homebody, she was a daredevil.

"Soon, when we are back in the same room Parker, you will learn your lesson very soon." Depandi murmured to himself as she glanced over at his team of men who were getting ready to go around and question the people of this small town.

* * *

Parker was still laughing as Eliot desperately tried to get the horrific taste out of his mouth. He grabbed anything he could think of to wash off his tongue and then to swallow to get his throat cleared of the horrible liquid that he had just swallowed. He was still glaring at her as he was drinking anything he could think of, but Parker was loving it. If he was going to continue to fight his feelings for her, then she was going to make his life miserable. Parker shrugged at the next glare sent in her direction and decided to go and wait in her room till Eliot was ready to eat dinner. She had been thinking long and hard about that time when he had pretended she was his wife on that train, when they had first really helped each other out.

_Flashback continued from last chapter:_

_Parker was nervous as Eliot helped her into the place that he had already set up. They had been talking the whole time since leaving the train and she felt like she knew more about him than she knew about herself. He understood that she had gotten herself into a bit of a jam and until she could fully leave the country without those men finding her or figuring out how to find her, he had told her to just stick close to him and he would watch her back. Parker had shrugged thinking it could work in her favor, since she still thought this guy was incredibly good looking. The even bigger plus was that he could cook and it appeared that he liked to do it because he had stopped at the grocery store to get a bunch of groceries and Parker was impressed to see that he knew his way around a kitchen pretty well. She only knew how to pour a bowl of Captain Crunch with milk. _

_"So what if we pull some jobs together? You might be able to use my talents just as much as I can use yours." Parker asked nervously. She wasn't ready to leave this man just yet and she wasn't all that sure why._

_"You want to make a temporary partnership?" Eliot asked, as he stopped chopping the tomato he was chopping for the recipe he was making._

_"Yeah." Parker nodded, curious whether or not he would agree and at the same time that she wanted him to, she didn't want him to, because there was something about this man that rattled her._

_"All right then, let's do it." Eliot nodded his head and went back to work._

_Parker was pretty sure that something had shifted in her life, big time, she just wasn't all that sure what it was yet._

_End Flashback_

* * *

Nate looked out the window of the car he was driving. Hardison was in the backseat and Sophie was sitting next to him, talking to Eliot on the cell phone. They were supposed to head over there for dinner, Eliot had grilled steaks and corn, and made some other stuff to go along with it. They had stopped and picked up some drinks and were currently making their way there, but as Nate glanced out the window, he figured they were heading there to make their way out of here, because he had just seen Depandi and his men and that meant Parker was in real danger, because people in a small town loved to gossip.

"Tell Eliot to pack the things that he brought and to have Parker do the same. Leave behind the things that were for their aliases. We have all our stuff in the SUV right? We don't need to head back to where we have been staying?" Nate asked. They had all kept their real bags and stuff packed and if they left the house, they usually took that stuff with them so they wouldn't have to risk going back in case of an emergency.

"Yes, we have all our stuff and Eliot said he was on it. They would grab their stuff and head to the emergency meet point. What is it Nate?" Sophie asked him softly.

"Depandi and his men are here, and you know small towns and newcomers." Nate said softly.

"It won't be long before they tell them who the new people are in town. We need to leave immediately. So we are heading to the emergency meet point." Sophie nodded as she realized what was going on.

* * *

Parker was sitting next to Eliot in the SUV they were using, feeling confused. They had made sure to grab only the stuff that belonged to Parker and Eliot, leaving anything behind that belonged to their alter egos. They took every photo of the two of them and they did a triple check of the entire house, every little place, to make sure nothing was left behind. Anything they used to eat off of was currently in the dishwasher being cleaned, making sure nothing was left behind. Toothbrushes and hair brushes were being taken with them, and Eliot had vacuumed the place up pretty good, making sure there was nothing there.

Now they were going to meet the others and move on again. Parker couldn't help but wonder how long they could stay a step ahead before he caught up to them and it scared her because this time he had gotten so close and she wouldn't be able to live with herself if something had happened to the people who were her new family, so she needed a plan and she needed one fast.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Parker was silent as the team pulled into an area where they could camp. They were using RV's to drive, with SUV's attached to car trailers making it easier to stay hidden. Even though the RV's were big, there were RV's everywhere and it meant that they didn't need to look for hotels or anything like that. They were going to stop at this camp ground for the night and just reheat the steaks and corn that they had not been able to eat from their hideout. They had been traveling for a while and she could see everyone was tired. Parker knew that Hardison was hanging out on Sophie and Nate's RV, but he would be moving from RV to RV. At the moment Nate wanted him close, so that he could keep him apprised of anything that Depandi or his men did. Hardison was tracking their cell phones and other things.

"Hey you're actually quiet, and that has me nervous." Elliot said as he made sure that they were parked in their area. He was glad that they had everything all set up, and that their escape was going to go well, at least that was what he was trying to tell himself, because he couldn't stand the thought of Parker being scared or being in major danger anytime soon.

"Well there is a lot on my mind." Parker said as she glanced at Elliot and tried to send him a reassuring smile, but couldn't quit manage it.

"We aren't going to let him get his hands on you Parker." Elliot reassured her. He could tell that she had faith in their team to have her back, just as she would always have theirs, but she was still scared and probably worried that she was dragging them into her own problems.

"Elliot, maybe I should just handle him. It would certainly be better for this team not to have to deal with me, and to definitely not have to try and battle things or evil people from my past." Parker said as she stood in front of Elliot inside their RV at the moment.

"Don't you ever let me hear you say that again Parker. We are always here for each other, always. We would never turn our backs on a team member in need, especially not because it's someone from their past." Elliot said with a frown. He was beginning to think that the reason that Parker had been so quiet was so that she could come up with a plan of her own, and try and get away from their group to deal with Depandi on her own. "I want you to promise me, give me your word, that you will not try and leave us here and that you will not go after any of your enemies without all of us as backup and without us discussing things ahead of time and agreeing with things." Elliot said, knowing that he was going to need to be specific about things with her.

"El…" Parker trailed off as she looked into his eyes and could tell it was useless to argue with him. He was not going to budge on this issue because he felt it was his place to keep her safe and she was actually kind of glad that he tied her hands, making sure that she couldn't leave his side and that she had to talk to him before she made any decisions, she didn't think she could go through any of this or deal with any of this without him by her side.

"No more talking, let's go get this dinner heated up and eaten, and we can all talk about what we think our next move should be." Elliot said shaking his head, and then he did something she had not been expecting but that pleased her, he kissed her on the lips. Before she could respond to that or ask him what it was about, he had walked out of the RV and onto the actual campground area in the woods where they were.

* * *

Nate had chosen well with this area, they didn't require you to sign in and they didn't require you to give a name. You just took a ticket thing, that showed when you arrived through the gated area and when you left, they scanned the ticket and you paid for your stay. They told you what areas were available and you were supposed to choose where you wanted to go, and so they were in the same area, and it was marked as used on their map but not who was using it or when the person using it arrived. When you left you had to let them know the number on your campsite so they could mark it as vacant, but otherwise it was only marked as occupied. They were deep in the wooded area, thank goodness for Elliot's outdoor skills, and there was no one close by since the camp grounds were purposely scattered and separate so people could have real experience camping. Parker was actually kind of glad that they were camping and where they were. They had stopped and stocked up on groceries and things, but if they needed more, they had the SUV's, and Hardison was going to make sure that their ticket said they were only there for two days, when they were going to be there longer. They had everything covered and they hoped that Parkers enemies wouldn't think to look there for them.

* * *

Depandi was angry as he paced in his hotel room. They couldn't have gotten too far ahead of him and yet he could find no sign of Parker and her little friends. He was beginning to think that luck was on their side more than his. He was aware that they were probably using an alias and holing up in a hotel or a vacant house somewhere and there would be no way to track that at all, not with their computer whiz on their side. He was beginning to think that Parker was actually smarter than he had first given her credit for, or maybe she as just smart enough to join forces with people who had actual brains. Depandi knew that Parker wasn't very bright, but he could see that she was different than from when he last knew her. He was going to make it his mission to crush her spirit and break her, so that she would never laugh again, and then he would kill her slowly, because that is what she deserved.

"Soon, Parker, real soon." Depandi snapped as he glared out the window, wondering where she was hiding at.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Parker was sitting alone, and away from the others as she watched them all talk and plan things out together. She felt horrible that she was the reason they were on the run. It seemed like Nate's enemies just went away after making one or two attempts to get even, but for some reason the main enemy that Parker had, wasn't going to give up that easily. It was clear that he wanted Parker and he wanted her now. Parker hated the thought that she was putting the rest of the team in danger at all, even though there were times where Nate put them in bad situations for a job, this was different, this was real life and not a job. Parker knew that Elliott was worried about her, and as she watched him pace and argue with the others, she thought back to another encounter she had, had with him in the past, and this was one that was extremely special to her, because it was actually one where they had been more to each other.

_Flashback:_

_Parker was wrapping up her ankle, angry at herself for allowing something to go so wrong. She had known that something was off with this job and she had still gone on it. She had been hired to steal something that was important to a certain person, and Parker knew that she had to complete the job or she was probably going to be in big trouble, and in major danger. There were just some people you didn't disappoint and this person was definitely one of them. _

_"Damn it." She silently muttered under her breath before pulling herself to her feet. Parker knew that she was going to have to find a way to ignore the pain so she could make another attempt to steal the item she had been hired to grab._

_Parker started to case the location like she had been taught, and immediately noticed him hanging around, and her mind started to wander at the sight of him. It had been a bit since she had last seen him and he actually seemed to be a bit tanner and all. _

_End flashback._

Parker snapped out of her daze when she felt someone kissing her and was shocked to see Elliott kneeling in front of her. She had wanted to remember the entire memory of that moment and that job, but it appeared that Elliott needed or wanted to talk to her about something and the look on his face showed that he was concerned about her.

"Hey." Elliott said.

Parker suddenly realized that Elliott had kissed her for the second time, and she felt the smile that crossed her face as she realized he wasn't fighting her any longer, he was actually showing her that he had feelings for her, whether he knew he was showing her or not was something that they were going to have to see later on. "Hey." Parker said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and stared at him. "What's the matter?"

"I was just thinking that if we all stay together it is going to be easier for us to be made, we can't stick together, it's way to suspicious." Elliott said softly as he tried to make her see that he was really worried and it wasn't just about her that he was worried about. Elliott was their hitter, he protected the entire team and if the team split up, that left someone vulnerable, actually it left more than one someone vulnerable.

"So you want us to split up?" Parker asked, stating the obvious.

"I think it's safer that way and a lot easier to disappear until we can come up with a plan. Hardison can set up some secure communication stuff and we can just split up after tonight. I say in the morning we take different routes and we go to different places. We can come up with better cover aliases that way." Elliott said nervously.

"What does Nate say about this?" Parker asked nervously, because she had no idea how she was going to be able to finally get her relationship with Elliott where she wanted, if she couldn't get womanly advice from Sophie. Parker knew that she was smart when it came to certain things, but completely out of the loop when it came to other things. She relied heavily on her new friends, who were more like family to her, to help her through those rough patches and she knew that Elliott wasn't going to have Sophie with them this time.

"Nate doesn't like the idea, but he agrees it's best right now. Parker, you still have injuries that you need to heal from and we can't risk any confrontations until we have a firm plan set and everyone is completely healed and healthy." Elliott told her, seeing the flare of panic in her eyes. "I am going to contact some friends to come in and protect the others when I can't be with them, but no matter what we can't tell each other where we are, that means Sophie, Nate and Hardison can't know where we are or are going and vice versa with us and them."

"Okay." Parker nodded her head slowly. She wasn't sure if this was a great plan, but it was the only plan of action they had at the moment.

_Back to flashback memory:_

_Parker was trying to think of something to say to him, she wanted to see if he remembered her and at the same time she really hoped he didn't. When they had parted ways the last time it had been messy and it had been a bad situation and she knew most of that was her fault. Parker was used to working solo, she didn't know how to act around people, and she certainly didn't know a thing about men and how to act around them. She turned her attention away from Elliott and decided it would be best to complete the job, to protect her life more than anything, than to go and talk to Elliott. _

_Parker found the object immediately and knew she was in trouble. The object was under extremely heavy guard and with her ankle injured it would be more difficult to get in there and grab it then usual. She knew she needed a plan, but she was not very good at planning things like this out, she was more a spur of the moment kind of woman. _

_Parker pushed a strand of the brunette hair, it part of the wig she had stolen at a pricey shop a few years back, behind her ear and blinked, hoping that the colored contacts would not dry out and irritate her eyes before she could get away. She knew she looked a bit different and hopefully that would work to her advantage on her getaway. Parker knew that the pair of high heels she was currently wearing, were not helping the sprained ankle but it was a fancy place and her favorite boots or even her favorite sneakers were not going to cut it there. _

_Just as she was about to walk away to see how security looked around, Elliott approached her and she knew it was showtime. She had to make him think he didn't know her, but she found out quickly that was useless._

_"I would recognize that body of yours anywhere.' Elliott murmured in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Since you are eyeing that item and I happen to know the person who is after it, I would say that if you didn't complete this job, then you would end up dead, correct?"_

_"Correct." Parker answered, dumbfounded and unsure on what Elliott was going to do. _

_"I noticed the limp, get hurt already?" Elliott teased as he noticed someone watching and he lightly kissed her neck and pulled her back into his arms, caressing her as if they were well known lovers._

_"Yeah." Parker answered, realizing that sticking with one word answers was probably making her look even stupider than usual._

_"Well then I would say that means you need my help, and for my help I want you alone with me, no jobs, no work, nothing, for an entire two weeks, deal?" Elliott asked her as lightly rubbed along her arms._

_Parker didn't know why she said what she said next, but her mind had seemed to shut down on her, and so she had said the one word that had sealed her fate. "Deal."_

_End Memory Flashback._


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Parker looked over at Elliott and could tell that he was trying to think of where he wanted them to go and lie low. They had split from Sophie, Nate and Hardison a couple days ago and had been traveling almost nonstop since then. Parker already knew that Elliott was worried that she wasn't telling him everything about how she was really feeling with her injuries, but that was too bad. Parker didn't want to seem like a whiny brat at the moment, not when she knew how much she really wanted Elliott to see her as a woman. Sophie had slipped into their RV before they had gone separate ways and given her some last minute advice, now Parker knew she was on her own and that scared her almost as much as knowing that the man that was after her, would probably settle on Nate if he couldn't catch her quick enough. Nate hadn't told her how he knew Depandi, but it was apparent that there was something else going on, and Parker wasn't sure why Depandi was so focused on her alone.

"Parker, whatever you are trying to scheme out, forget it. We are going to come up with some aliases and be legit until it's time for our check in and then move." Elliott stated simply, assuming that Parker was plotting some job she wanted to do to relieve the boredom she was feeling from not working.

"I wasn't thinking about anything." Parker said with a frown on her face. "How long are we using the aliases you chose before we make contact and then move on?"

The plan was simple, they would chose their first set of aliases and lie low for two weeks. After that they would make contact by going into a chat room that Hardison would set up and talking and updating each other. If they could come up with a plan by then, then they would meet up as a team again and go after Depandi, but only if everyone on the team was uninjured and ready to do their own jobs. If Elliott didn't feel that Parker was ready for the confrontation by then, then they would burn the aliases they were using and move again, activating new aliases that no one else knew. As it was, Elliott and Parker would not know the aliases that the other three team members were using or where they were and the other three would not know where Elliott and Parker were or what their new aliases were. Elliott was setting them up for them, just as Hardison was in charge of setting up the aliases for Sophie, Nate and himself.

"I know you're worried, I can see it in your eyes." Elliott said softly as he reached over and grabbed her hand, kissing her knuckles and giving her a gentle smile.

"Of course I am worried, wouldn't you be?" Parker asked with a sigh.

"Probably." Elliott admitted with a shrug and a wink. "Come on darlin', we are going to live the life of a happily married couple who recently went through a tragic event and just want to try and get back on track." He informed her and Parker realized that the reason behind the story was to get people to understand why Parker was hurt and why they just wanted to be left alone. It would also explain away any awkwardness between them if anyone looked too closely.

"Are we actually going to be around a lot of people?" Parker asked as she bit her bottom lip in nervousness.

"Nope. I am actually hoping there won't really be anyone around where we are going. While you were asleep I set up everything, so we just need to get to a grocery store and buy some supplies and then head to our new home for the next two weeks." Elliott stated and Parker figured that their new home wasn't actually going to be a home.

* * *

Depandi was so angry he actually thought about shooting one of his most loyal men. They had all dropped off the face of the earth it seemed. Either they got smart and split up, making it harder to track them, or they had managed to cover their tracks a lot better than before. Depandi wasn't sure who he really wanted to hurt more, Nate or Parker and then he remembered what his problem was with each of them and knew that Parker had to be his main target first. He hadn't known that Parker was working with Nate when he had made the decision to go after Nate, and he hadn't been able to actually track her down, and then there she was, like a gift that was dropped into his lap. Depandi had been so excited to see Parker working with Nate and had wanted nothing more than to get even with her before anyone else on his list. But now, he didn't know where either one of them was, and he knew it was all the fault of the men he had put in charge of keeping track of them. Depandi had been warned not to cross Elliott Spencer, but he didn't care anymore, because he was more than ready to cross Elliott Spencer, he would have no problems in killing him to get what he wanted, no one stood in his way.

* * *

Parker looked out the window of the cabin that she was now aware was going to be her home for two weeks. She was glad that there was a place to hide the RV and there was a real car for them to drive resting there. Parker wasn't sure how Elliott had found this place or who owned it, but he had made it clear that for the moment it was going to be their home. He had set up the security system and there were camera's everywhere. The RV was hidden away from the cabin, so that they could make a break out of there and head to where the RV was hidden and no one would know it belonged to them. Elliott had apparently thought about everything, except how much Parker wasn't sure she could handle the remoteness of the cabin. She was good at being alone, she had no friends for most of her life, but hearing all the noises of nature might be a bit of a problem for her. However as she looked over at Elliott she realized, this might actually be a blessing in disguise because she was more than ready for their relationship to become something more than she had ever dreamed was possible for her to have.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

It was official, Parker was majorly bored out of her mind and Eliot was annoyed with her already. Parker knew that he was trying to be patient, knowing that she wasn't used to being out in the middle of nowhere and out of touch with her own world. Parker actually set up fake jobs that she could do around the area of the place they were staying, and sometimes Eliot would help out by putting something somewhere and making it harder for her to get to it. Parker used the excuse that she needed to try and keep herself on top of things, to keep working at what she did because if she didn't keep up with it, she might get sloppy. Most of the time she figured that Eliot helped just so that she would stay out of his way most of the time and not sit around, pouting all day and bugging him about how much longer they had to stay where they were.

Parker was now sitting at the kitchen table and looking over some building plans, trying to see how she would crack the layout and steal certain objects that she knew were in there. She wasn't actually going to pull those jobs, but she could keep her mind working on new ideas and it was something to do, other than stare out the window or bug Eliot while he tried to think of new plan idea's on how the whole thing with Depandi was going to go down. Parker knew that he was only trying to make sure that if they did this, they did it the safe way and that no one else on the team got hurt.

Parker looked up when she heard Eliot start cussing again, and she knew that he had received some new information or he had seen a flaw on a plan he had drawn up and knew he had to start all over. She hated that she was putting all of them through this, that she was the reason that the team had to separate and even worse, she had Eliot with her, if Depandi found and went after Nate, Sophie and Hardison, they didn't have Eliot there to back them up or keep them safe, something that worried her all the time. She hadn't been sleeping at night because of the nightmares she had, the nightmares about she and Eliot finding out too late that the other's had been found and that they were in trouble, and by the time they got there, it was way too late, and they were killed.

"Trouble again?" Parker asked softly.

"Yeah. Don't worry, I am going to figure this out and we are going to make sure that he doesn't get anywhere near anyone on the team, ever again." Eliot said, as he glanced at the tired and worried face of a woman he thought was more like a carefree child who didn't worry or care about anyone else. He had seen over time how wrong that assumption was, and he could tell that she felt nothing but guilt about how this whole thing was going down. Eliot knew that Parker was hiding information that he might need, information about Depandi and why he was really this persistent, but he also knew he couldn't push her at the moment.

"Do you think everyone is all right?" Parker asked, as she got up and walked over to where Eliot was sitting.

"Of course they are. If they weren't, I would have gotten an emergency signal." Eliot reassured her the best that he knew how.

"I am so sorry about all of this El." Parker said as she confirmed his worst fears. She blamed herself for all of the bad things and she felt guilty for the separation and other things that had been happening.

"You have nothing at all to be sorry for." Eliot said as he reached over and pulled her into his arms. Eliot hated that they were sleeping in separate bedrooms, mainly because he knew he was in love with Parker and he knew she needed to be held, but he didn't want to push her, he didn't want her to feel like she had to be with him.

* * *

Nate could tell that Hardison was concerned about something, even before he sat down across from him and Sophie. Nate saw the look in his friend's eyes and wondered if he was going to like what he was about to hear or if he should tell Hardison to wait until after they had all eaten their dinner, it would be a shame to make them lose their appetite when they had managed to get such a great meal. They never actually ate out, but they could grab take out and bring it home. Eliot had made the rule before they had split up that they were to try and stay as short amount of time in public places as possible, and never eat in a restaurant because it left you stationary for way too long at the moment. They knew that Depandi and his men weren't above shooting people in the back and they weren't above causing problems in a public place that could cause harm to families, especially young children. So they always grabbed take out when no one wanted to cook.

"What's the matter?" Nate asked with a sigh. He really wanted to dig into his meal, but he wasn't sure that was going to happen tonight.

"I found some information on Depandi that you aren't going to like. It might also explain why he is so persistent in going after Parker." Hardison said before he pushed a file towards Nate and a copy towards Sophie and then opened one himself.

As they all sat there, reading through it and talking over some things, asking questions occasionally, it was becoming very clear, that this situation was a lot more serious than they had ever known.

* * *

Depandi was pacing back and forth, glaring at some of his men and taking deep breaths, trying to desperately calm down. He knew that Parker was hiding now, and he also knew it was going to be a lot harder to get his hands on her at the moment, but he also knew that there was no way Parker and Nate could let him go. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that it was probably best to let them come to him. He decided to get his men and his properties ready for when their team made their appearance, because he knew that she was going to be coming to him. Depandi decided he was going to beat them at their own game. Slowly he let a smile appear on his face and he turned towards his desk and hurried over, sitting down he got to work on a plan that would make Nate, Parker and all their little friends pay, in a very big way.

"Soon, all of you will be hurting and maybe, just maybe, I will either kill you slowly or I will sell you off to someone else who will kill you all very, very slowly." Depandi said as he glanced at the picture he had taken of the group together and let an evil grin cross his face.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Parker was pacing back and forth as she waited for Elliott to finish off what he was doing. She hated going grocery shopping with a passion but she was also aware that they had needed to do this or they wouldn't be eating anything any time soon. Parker wasn't sure what Elliott had to pick up but she hoped he would be done soon. Something told Parker that they were going to need to get moving faster than they usually did, it was something that was making it clear, Depandi and his crew were really close to them and the last thing she wanted was Elliott getting hurt because of this. She was relieved when she finally saw him coming towards her, pushing a cart and it was clear he was also feeling the need to hurry up and get moving out of there.

The two of them quickly loaded the bags into the RV and then Elliott was driving them while Parker put everything away. She walked to the very back and saw that the newest car they had traded in for was still secure and was being towed behind the RV. Parker knew there was a chance they might need to ditch the RV if Depandi ever caught on to them having it. But the good news was that anyone who looked at the footage from the security camera's wouldn't know that it was her and Elliott, because they were heavily disguised and they made sure that everyone only saw what the two of them wanted them to see.

"Hey." Parker said as she sat behind the drivers seat on a little chair what was there.

"Hey." Elliott said as he turned his head and smiled at her before watching the road again. They were both still in disguise and anyone watching would think they were just an old retired couple who finally got the chance to go on a trip across country.

"I have this really bad feeling that he is close to one of us. Either he is right on our tail El, or he is close to Nate, Sophie and Hardison." Parker said and when she saw the concern in Elliott's eyes, she was well aware that she wasn't the only person who felt that way.

"Look, Nate, Hardison and Sophie can take care of themselves but if they run into trouble we have a plan in place and I know what needs to be done." Elliott said softly and it was very clear that he wasn't about to tell her anything about this plan, which only served to make her more curious and even more annoyed with them. She realized that they were treating her like the baby of a family who didn't need to know anything about anything, someone who just had to do what she was told, and that wasn't something she would humor them all with for very long, because if she wasn't let in on the plan, she would assume there really was no plan and that Nate had wanted Elliott to lie to her so that she would stay put with him if the other three ever got into trouble, and that would mean that she would want to try and find them, leaving Elliott behind her.

* * *

Depandi was looking at what was left inside the abandoned home and knew that the occupants had left in a hurry, which meant either someone had tipped them off to the fact that he was coming or else they were always on the move in which case it was going to be even harder to catch them, especially since he was now out of informants that had seen the group at all, he had no idea which direction they had gone in and whether they were back together as five again or if it was still two groups. Depandi walked over and punched the wall, watching as his whole fist went through the plaster. He heard the coughing from a couple of his security men but he was still too enraged to even focus on the fact that he was doing the one thing he had never done in front of anyone, he was falling apart and letting his rage control his actions.

"I am going to make them pay even more for this!" He hissed as he punched the wall a second time and then winced. As he pulled his hand back he saw the damage and knew he had probably broken the hand.

"Here boss." Reese said as he walked over to his boss and helped to wrap up the hand. "Do you want to head to the hospital or would you like us to have the guys back home have our doctor make the flight out?"

"I want our doctor out here, and make sure she knows that she is going to be out here for a while. I am not going to let her go back home, until after everything is finished now, because I just know that I am going to forget what we have set up, and cross the line with the ones who are worth the most money, and I want to make sure that no one dies on me here, they are worth more to me alive than they are dead." Depandi snapped and he watched as Reese went off to do his bidding. He had to remember to promote Reese when this was all over, because that kid wasn't afraid of anything and Depandi wanted him trained by the best man that ever worked for him.

* * *

Nate could tell that Hardison was not a happy camper. They were at another campsite and Hardison was making sure that the bugs didn't stand a chance against his system. A few hours ago Hardison had read the check in note from Elliott and Parker and everyone had breathed a huge sigh of relief that the two of them were still in one piece and on the move, again. Nate was more than aware of the fact that Hardison had, had a crush on Parker since the day the team was put together for a job. Nate knew that Hardison was more than concerned for her safety at this point, Hardison hated the fact that Parker was alone with Elliott.

"Okay, I sent our note and now I just need to know if you have any instructions for Elliott." Hardison looked up at him as they both heard Sophie approaching from the bathroom.

"No, not right now." Nate shook his head and then he watched everyone around him. He had this strange feeling that someone was watching him, and he wasn't sure who it was but he knew that he was going to be busy real soon, he just knew that someone other than Depandi's crew had fallen made the move to get closer, now he just needed to block them before they tried anything that cost him one of the team mates he cared deeply about.

* * *

Parker knew that Elliott was trying to keep her safe as they finally made camp in a National park. Parker had always wanted to go to different National Parks and see if she could climb the most difficult of mountains, but now that she was in one, she was barely allowed to go to the bathroom on her own. Parker really hoped that he made himself ready, because she was more than aware than a very real battle was about to begin and then her head snapped up at very real sound of a fight on some gunfire. She heard the panic around her, but she was focused on Elliott, and wondering if he would get to her before they did.

The shooting as louder, it was getting closer and Parker was terrified she was about to die. She wanted to get out of there, but she couldn't leave Elliott behind, and at the same time, her brain was refusing to function, so she stood there and she hoped he would get there and they could move, but at the same time, she had a feeling that he was hurt and needed her, but it didn't matter. A bullet nicked her as it whizzed by her ear, it had just become really nasty and if this wasn't Depandi, then it might just be an enemy worse than the man that had tortured her for so long, and now, she didn't know if Elliott was alive or dead and she had no idea if she was going to survive if he was gone.


End file.
